Senator Jon Kyl on our teacher survey

[C]ivics education is an essential ingredient for liberty and good citizenship and that knowledge of our country must be renewed each generation.

But for years, studies have shown that we aren’t engaged in that renewal. Comedian Jay Leno famously tapped the rich vein of civics ignorance in his candid man-on-the-street interview routines, “Jay-walking.” Time and again, he found that while many people have trouble identifying a picture of George Washington or describing the meaning of Independence Day, for example, everyone is familiar with Joe Camel or Mr. Peanut.

A new survey of social studies teachers, conducted by the American Enterprise Institute, backs up that anecdotal evidence with hard data.